KenolKobil of Kenya Jumps Most in 6 Months: Nairobi Mover

March 11 (Bloomberg) -- KenolKobil Ltd., a Kenyan fuel
retailer operating in nine African countries, gained the most in
six months after a rumor the company had valued itself at nearly
four times its share price in an attempted sale.

Shares in the company surged 6.8 percent to 11.75 shillings
by the 3 p.m. close in Nairobi, the largest gain since Sept. 12,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. More than 2.2 million
securities changed hands, 328 percent of the three-month daily
average.

“We have seen it starting to recover since Friday,” Eric
Musau, a research analyst at Nairobi-based Standard Investment
Bank Ltd., said in a phone interview. “There have been some
reports that management was asking for 42 shillings per share
from Puma Energy and investors are interpreting this to mean the
company is much more valuable than what it is trading at.”

The company said March 1 it had terminated acquisition
talks with Puma Energy and on March 6 it announced a profit
warning, plunging the shares 19 percent in the seven days to
March 7.

KenolKobil began talks with Puma, the Geneva-based
downstream and storage unit of Trafigura Beheer BV, in May and
the company’s “key” shareholders signed an agreement to sell
their majority stake. Puma said it would offer to buy 100
percent of the company after due diligence and regulatory
approval.

Profit in the 12 months to December will be “much lower”
than a year earlier due to high crude oil prices, currency
volatility and “very high financing costs due to extremely
high interest rates” continue to affect profitability,
KenolKobil said on March 6.